Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

Denisism,

your post will be deleted over and over, no way it gets published.

all subscribers to the thread received it by mail fine, don't worry about your message not being received.

thanks

Having the same issue with failing graphics on late 2011 macbook pro 15" (MD318LL/A). Ordered it in Aug 2012, so it's been only 2 years until it started hanging and having stripes all over screen. Gets worse when using Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator.

Had the hard drive replaced with an SSD, did a clean install of a new OS X. Had the same issue from the very start, even before I got Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, or anything, really, installed. Tried dumping PRAM, helped for a while, but then the issue came back, and has gotten even worse. Have been using gfxCardStatus tool to make it work only on the integrated graphics. It seems to help it work a bit longer, but after 30-60 minutes of Photoshop my mac hangs again, with stripes, problems rebooting, etc.

I'm hesitant to get the logic board replaced, since based on posts of other people with the same problem -- I helps only for a while.

I have a hand-me-down Early 2011 Macbook Pro 15 8.2 2Ghz model. I received the laptop with a box with a dead battery and hard drive. I replaced the battery with an eBay battery and a Crucial SSD. The GPU still works and has shown no issues.

When Apple decides to admit fault and decides to repair/replace all fault MBPs, do you guys think they will give me a hard time? (talking about having to open up the laptop and changed parts in it)

Thanks!

Having spoke to apples engineers they say there is nothing wrong with out macbook pro

Twitter and apple /customer services  and any one else?

<Edited By Host>

I would advise anyone with a dodgy gpu not to install Yosemite or any other OS. Just like with windows setup when the installer is running it doesn't manage the heat properly as the power management is on a 'slim' os and can lead to overheating and it to finally break.

If you still want to proceed regardless put a desk fan on the left hand side going across the keyboard to cool the top case to help the case draw the heat out!

They always do.  For long life get an engineer who doesn't follow apples bad guidelines and get them to re paste the heatsinks for the cpu and gpu and make the die plates on the heatsink mirror shiny and flat with chrome polish.  make sure it is all off by using a kitchen towel then clean with isopropyl letting dry thoroughly before applying the tiny amount of paste required, about 80% less volume than Apple say!

i'll keep on them , I will see if i can get it a bitter known

Its called 'towing the party line'.  If you've spoken to as many Apple techs as I have 'off the record' they all tell a very different story indeed.  There has been a big spike in failures, they have known 100% for well over a year as their collection of statistics per machine type and serial number is very comprehensive indeed, even more than IBM before they sold the pc business to Lenovo.

Therein lies the problem of 'off the record' communications, by their very nature they are undocumented.

It's impossible to disable the AMD in Windows, Apple's bios emulation hides the integrated graphics from the user.  They even cripple the use of an ssd in windows by limiting it to ata-133 speeds.  That can be fixed to run in ahci mode sata 3 600 speeds with some registry hacks in windows, and patching the mbr with a file using terminal in OS X but it isn't easy at all.

why they even bother making windows seemingly inferior is another gripe of mine about Apple - no need to but I shall stop right now!

I've seen the stats with my own eyes from more than one AASP off the record  - the same records that Apple have thousands more of.  They have all the documentation they need already, and they know exactly how many GPU's have broke, how many depot boards have been thrown in time and time again for every single 2011 linked by their serial number and support profile linked to an Apple ID.

I can't think of a computer company bar perhaps the old IBM that even comes close to the documentation they have per device they sell and I've been in the game since 1989.

thanks for documenting, Gav.

now existmep's got his answer.

I'm a bit surprised how linux system seems barely considered in this thread as it's an (almost) easy way to get a stable environment on a buggy 2011 mbp, especially for those who have to boot 30 times or more to get to the login screen.

while it's not close to a fix but only a turnaround, it's still a way to be able to use this computer and a good occasion to discover another system not so different from mac as both are unix based, especially for those considering not buying apple products ever again.

except if adobe suite is mandatory, of course.

Thanks Gav, I was aware that Apple's bios emulation hides the integrated graphics from the user but I didn't find any workaround for that. There was some temporary hacks which never worked for me.I searched for it 7 months ago and I don't know if they find a new workaround. Unfortunately, right now my Mac no longer works to check for the new solutions. But I will give a try for akamyself's solution. Actually if it works I would be happy to have a Linux operating system on this expensive laptop and for sure it would be the last Apple product that I waste my money on it! I am totally disappointed of them, Never liked their software solutions but always thought that their products are solid... apparently I was wrong.

Linux is a great alternative, you can run integrated only by default. You can manage the heat from a hardware fault and stop the OS hating It is actually faster when set up right you can manage absolutely everything.. A double edged sword though as its an adequately good flavour of graphical Linux based on Ubuntu compared to an absolutely brilliant one built on FreeBSD, that unfortunate and infuriatingly you cannot control properly when you need to limp along until Apple finally does something about it.

If anyone happens to participate in these actions I suggest not one but two more targeted campaigns or actions - one maintenance based to reprofile the heat sink plates With far less and better paste.

Why stop at the shiny -  Apple must have had a team who toyed with upgrade heatsink design somewhere in Cupertino for these common chassis 08-12 never mind just the 2011you can't own up for legal so have some heart apple, help with letting those drawings and specs accidentally get out wink wink

The reball issue is more tricky - apple cannot lead solder which fails a **** of a lot more with reballs than a user going diy with lead solder. A minefield and I better stop now and thank apple for posting this on ipad Safari an utter nightmare

     I cannot even get into the Mac OS anymore.  The fans start cranking up when I select Mavericks as the OS and - it shuts the computer down.  Luckily, Windows still works on the system.